Events // Falkland Christmas Shopping 2015

Willow & Plum Soap Co.

Kathy Burns Jewellery

Fayre Earth Gift Shop

It's crazy to think that a whole year has past since we were visiting the shopping days in Falkland after only living in the village for 3 months... and here we are taking part in them! On Wednesday we had a stall filled with JillyJilly goodies in Falkland Town Hall with Fife Makers, where there was lots of fab Christmas gifts designed and created locally. All of the village gift shops stay open until 10pm and have 10% off with festive refreshments. Yum! I wanted to take a video tour to show you all but the weather this Wednesday was pretty yucky, so these photos will have to do for now! We'll be back again on the 25th November and 2nd December from 11am-10pm. It really is such a lovely atmosphere to get Christmas shopping done in and the village looks so magical at this time of year! Check out the event page on Facebook for full details. 

Goody Box // Winter Wonderland

I'm so excited to tell you all about our new limited edition goody boxes. After we launched our Halloween ones last month we had lots of you asking if we'd be doing a Christmas one... so here it is! Winter Wonderland themed filled with frosty surprises including jewellery, stationery and accessories, worth over £20!

The goodies inside would make fab stocking fillers but are perfect for treating yourself too. We've been busy making up the limited edition illustrated items which will only be available in these 12 boxes. The contents are a surprise but I can tell you there will be glitter and snowflakes! If you'd like one of these pretty parcels then they are available at jillyjilly.co.uk now for £16.50. 

DIY // Hot Chocolate Gift Idea

We're back with another festive DIY idea! This time we've got the perfect stocking filler; a hot chocolate gift set. My favourite recipe for homemade hot chocolate has to be from Jamie Oliver's Drinks Tube (watch here). It's so thick and chocolatey and you can even make it with different flavoured chocolate - we've tried chocolate orange, peppermint and even chilli! Yum yum. This makes enough to fill a jar like this one here which makes lots of hot chocolate. You're best to watch the video to see how amazing it looks but here's a summary of the recipe.

You will need:

• 200g dark chocolate 
• 100g cocoa powder
• 100g icing sugar
• 50g cornflour
• 50g malted drink powder (like Horlicks)
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. Pop the chocolate in food processor and blitz until it becomes a fine powder.
2. Add remaining ingredients to food processor and pulse a few times until combined.
3. Pour mix into a lidded jar and you're done! Finish with twine and a festive gift tag.
4. To make into hot chocolate measure a mug of milk into a saucepan and add two heaped tablespoons of the mix. Whisk on a medium heat for 5 mins and it will become thick and smooth, ready for you to top with your favourite hot chocolate toppings!

This makes a lovely gift when given with a pretty mug and marshmallows, or how about including it in a mini hamper for chocolate lovers? You could make it even more special by having a personalised mug made to go with it, like ours (pictured above) available here.

I hope you like this gift idea! Do you make a lot of gifts at Christmas?

 

DIY // Advent Calendar

I'm so excited about this festive DIY post, especially since I took the photos for it almost a year ago! So last year myself and David decided we weren't going to do proper Christmas presents, instead we'd make each other an advent calendar filled with tiny goodies so we'd have something little and fun to open each morning on the run up to Christmas. 

Advent calendars are getting quite elaborate; speciality food ones, luxury candles and beauty products. They're also quite expensive and there's a chance you'll end up with a lot of random items that aren't to your taste. Creating an advent calendar means you can make it super personal. I really loved gathering all the bits for David's one and it was a lot of fun to wrap! There's so many ways of creating advent calendars like this, just take a look on Pinterest. I thought I'd share how I made my hanging one along with a free printable of the numbers I designed for it.

You will need:

• 24 tiny gifts (such as sweets, novelty stocking fillers, festive bits and pieces like our wee badges!, stationery, charity shop books, handmade vouchers for breakfast in bed etc... I think we kept ours to around £20)
• Tissue or wrapping paper
• Tape - Christmas washi tape is prettiest! (Try Iced Jems for some cute) ones
• Thick ribbon for hanging
• Mini pegs
• Thinner ribbon/twine
• Number stickers (printable download below or click here) or labels for drawing numbers on

There's not really any instructions for this one! All you need to do is decide what order you want the gifts in, mix it up so the sweets aren't all in a row etc, then wrap them up and make sure to stick the numbers on. Alternating colours of tissue paper with cute patterned tapes makes it look really effective. Next you just need to hang them up, depending on the size and shape of each parcel you might want to use twine and tie them up, a small piece of ribbon or just a peg - take a closer look at the photographs and you'll see what I mean. I had a couple of larger items which were too heavy to suspend so instead hid them and put a 'find me here' note in with the rest of the calendar! The overall effect is fun and mismatching so don't worry about anything being too perfect.

I've seen the hanging ones done with a branch to hold it all together which is really pretty and something I might try this year. Last time I used a thick tartan ribbon with fairy lights to finish off.

If you don't have space to put a hanging advent calendar like this then something like the one David made for me is a lovely alternative. He made his much simpler by filling a pretty basket with the parcels which did add a fun lucky dip element plus the basket was a nice bonus gift! 

Have you ever made an alternative advent calendar? I'd love to see pictures!

Stockist Spotlight // The Makers Gallery & Bistro

The Makers Gallery & Bistro is one of our newest stockists - a wonderful social enterprise which offers delicious sounding food, arts and gifts. You'll find goodies made by designer/makers such as the ones photographed above; Duck in a Pond, Nikki McWilliams, Hello Sunshine and Hannah Ford plus lots more which you can see on their website. They have an insightful makers spotlight on their own blog which is definitely worth checking out, we should be on it soon! A selection of our mugs, earrings and pocket mirrors are now available in the gallery shop. 

We're really hoping to go and visit for lunch when we have some time off. As well as being very veggie/vegan friendly they make yummy sounding baked sweet potatoes... and serve pancakes all day! Take a peek at their menu here. 

The Makers Gallery & Bistro can be found at Unit 3 The Makers Village, Ludgate, Alloa, FK10 2DE and is open Tues-Sat 10am-4pm. 

News // JillyJilly Club

We know that lots of you are super lovely and are always telling your friends about us so we've been trying to work out a way to thank you. After some investigating into the depths of our behind-the-scenes-shop-hosting-computer-programmey stuff we've found we can start a customer rewards scheme for those of you who refer your friends... the JillyJilly club. So here's how it would work:

1. You get in touch to let us know you'd like to sign up (yay!) - email hello@jillyjilly.co.uk

2. We send you a personalised discount code e.g. YOURNAME10 (which you can share on social media, email to friends, tell people on the bus... shout about it on the street! You get the picture)

3. When someone uses your unique discount code: 

- they'll receive 10% off their order total (lucky them!)
- you'll receive 10% in points (woohoo!)

for example if they spend £10 - their discount would be £1 so their order would cost them £9 then you would receive 100 points (discounts and points are before P&P)

4. You'll receive email updates when someone uses your unique discount code to let you know how many points you have. (1 point is worth 1p)

5. When you get your points saved to a multiple of 500 you can convert it into rewards:

- 500 points = £5 voucher
- 1000 points = £10 voucher
- 1500 points = £15 voucher or goody bag worth £20
- 2000 points = £20 voucher

6. Everyone is happy because you've been telling the world about JillyJilly! (Well... maybe!)

Occasionally we'll have special offers and ways of getting extra points like our launch week special. If you sign up to join the JillyJilly Club before November we'll start you off with 200 points! To join email us at hello@jillyjilly.co.uk and we'll create your personalised discount code so you're good to go.

We hope you love the idea! We have more fun perks to add to the JillyJilly Club in future but I'll wait until we can confirm them before sharing. If you have any questions don't hesitate to get in touch. You can head to our website to read the full terms and conditions.

Gift Guide // Gifts for Bakers

It's getting to that time of year again, where it's almost already impossible to avoid Christmas! (Not that I mind, I love all things Christmassy) We're joining in with our cute themed gift guides which you'll find on our blog over the next 8 weeks to help with present ideas. I'm really enjoying creating these; it's all the fun of shopping without spending the money! Today we've curated a pretty selection of gifts for bakers - mostly stocking fillers under £10. If you're a baker and like any of the goodies featured then feel free to share this post so your friends and family get the hints! You'll find info and links to the products below (please note prices don't include P&P). 

1. 1950s Style Apron: Sew Make Me on Etsy £15 // 2. Pack of 3 Natural Handmade Macaron Soaps: Bathroom Bakery on Etsy £5.76 // 3. Mason Cash Hearts Mixing Bowl: Dunelm Mill £13.99 // 4. Mixing Bowl Earrings: JillyJilly £8 // 5. Flour Shaker: Baker and Maker £4.95 // 6. Cupcake Wall Sticker: Not on the High Street £16  // 7. 3 Tier Regency Cake Stand: dotcomgiftshop £9.95 // 8. Rose Double Oven Glove: Not on the High Street £19 // 9. Sprinkles Garland: Heartfelt Handmade on Etsy £15 // 10. Sugar & Spice Candle Tin: Bomb Cosmetics £7.99 // 11. Bake Patterned Mug: JillyJilly £9 // 12. Bake Quote Mug: JillyJilly £9 // 13. Lick the Spoon: The Crafty Giraffe £4.50 // 14. Blue Snowflake Baking Cups: Iced Jems £2.50 // 15. Bake Patterned Notebook: JillyJilly £5.95

If you'd like to see more baking goodies like these you can head over to our Gifts for Bakers Pinterest board. We've also decided as a bonus treat to give you 15% off* our Those Who Bake collection with the code BAKEGIFT at checkout. 

I hope you liked our first gift guide! Which is your favourite item?

*ends Friday 23/10/15 at 11.59pm 

Goody Box // Trick or Treat

Hands up if you love Halloween!! I do... and I've been dying to design some seasonal goodies to celebrate. I'm always buying Halloween themed decorations and sweets (yum) so really wanted to create something inspired by the childish excitement of the day, what better than a Trick or Treat experience delivered to your door?

So we are really excited to release our first limited edition goody boxes! These halloween themed bundles are filled with spooky surprises, including brand new jewellery, accessories and stationery - only available in our Trick or Treat box. The contents are worth over £20 but these boxes, which we've only made 12 of, are now available at jillyjilly.co.uk for £16.50 each. I love the packaging on these, they were so much fun to make and I hope they'll be loads of fun to open.

Enjoy the Little Things // Autumn Edition

We decided a non businessy 'Enjoy the Little Things' series would make a nice change from our usual blog posts. One of the things I miss most when (accidentally) taking a break from blogging is the excuse for taking photographs. I get very lazy and just take social media snaps from my phone but when I have a blog in mind the Nikon comes out. 

It's half way through October and becoming so lovely and autumnal so we went for a walk in the crispy wood smoke scented air to try and find some conkers. I think we've been beaten to it as there was only empty shells left but everything is still so pretty and colourful. It's getting dark so much earlier but at least it's an excuse for lots of candles and cosy nights in, we even bought a gingerbread maple melt for the burner... which might just be a bit overly festive but it smells too good! At this time of year it's so hard to resist all the cosy pyjamas and blankets that appear in the shops but slippers are a necessity when you work from home. Slippers and hot drinks! We're really bad for hoarding JillyJilly mugs for endless cups of tea. Maybe next year I'll find time to draw some autumn inspired designs.

Stockist Spotlight // Sunshine No. 1

Since our first trade show last month we're so pleased to share that we have a number of new stockists. Earlier this month we took a wee trip to deliver orders to 3 of our newest stockists; The Makers Gallery & Bistro in Alloa, Rainbow Collections in Stirling then finally to Glasgow where you'll find our featured stockist. Today on our Stockist Spotlight we'd like to introduce you to the wonderful Sunshine No. 1! 

Sunshine No. 1 is owned by the lovely Suzi Nicol who we met through the Little Birds Market in St Andrews. Her shop opened in August this year and is filled with handmade goodies from across Glasgow and central Scotland. The shop has a fab retro vibe, I love the creative wall behind the till and fairground style shop signs! When we first popped in I took the chance to get some small bits and pieces for my Mum's birthday box (50 presents for her 50th!). I struggled to choose from the selection of quirky hand crafted gifts but came away with Poporopo popcorn, autumn berry jam and a rose geranium lipbalm. Had I been treating myself I'd have loved a Wee Candle Co. chocolate orange tin but the enamel mugs are gorgeous too! Sunshine No. 1 now stocks a selection of our mugs and occasion cards.

Suzi also hosts some fun looking crafty classes - head over to their Facebook page to find out more.

Sunshine No. 1 can be found at 1043 Catchcart Road, Glasgow, G42 9AF and is open 10am-5pm Tues-Sat